About the Author
Cathy Boyd Byrd invites others to join her in considering topics of interest to those on the Christian spiritual journey…..discipleship, spirituality, mental health, Christian growth, and Bible study. Cathy enjoys working with others as they transition from emotional emergency and brokenness to spiritual emergence and abundant living! Many of the topics about which Cathy writes are interrelated as experienced in her own life and in the lives of those with whom she works in counseling, teaching, and case management, and in friendships. She believes that sharing our journey of Christian growth and spirituality helps us know God and ourselves better and connects us with others!
Cathy is a Christian Educator and Life Recovery Counselor, and an ordained deacon through Christian Leaders Institute. She serves as Community Outreach MInister at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church. She is a student (disciple) of the Holy Spirit and shares with her students (disciples) the things the Lord teaches her through Bible study and contemplation, incorporating experiences interpreted through the Word, cherished traditions of her faith, and reasoning that comes from seeking the mind of Christ in accountable community. She was widowed in August 2020 after 48 years of marriage to Bill Byrd, is mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. Her journey of faith has been lifelong and continues to be an adventure with the trailblazer and guide, Jesus Christ!
Cathy is the founder and program manager for a Christian women’s residential life recovery program, Titus 2 Partnership, Inc.(www.titus2.life) in Panama City, Florida.
Fighting Fair
Fighting Fair Recently I had an incident of conflict with a student whose repeated disregard for instructions had become so critical that she was at risk of being dismissed from Titus 2’s residence, which I knew would be disastrous for her given other circumstances of her life. Hoping to avoid that, I sought one last time to get through to her. When faced with conflict, her pattern in the past has been to run. This time, however, she recognized that was not an acceptable choice for her. She had to stay, cry, reflect, talk, negotiate, and work it through. It has led to much more open...
Come to the Healer
I have recently read Dr. Chauncey Crandall's "Touching Heaven". He, a cardiologist and born again Christian, began exploring the many ways of healing- spiritual, physical, mental, relational, etc.- as he began to see the power of God at work among his patients and in the illness and death of his own son. His story is inspiring and motivating. The Lord has called me to the ministry of healing and I have been learning what that means now for nearly a decade. As Crandall says..., "After everything that has happened, I've learned that my purpose is to treat the sick AND the lost. To discern...
Exceptionalist Entitlement Attitude….An Addictive Way of Thinking Observed
As I have worked in counseling and spiritual formation with women over the last 10 years, I have observed a particular attitude that it has taken me ten years to wrap my mind around and articulate what it is I am seeing. It finally all came together this past week as I was working with a particularly difficult young lady with whom I have worked for a while. She is very bright, an eager learner, but very much a rule breaker….any rule, every rule, every time. Not always willfully and intentionally, but with laissez faire attitude of “I’ll ask forgiveness (if necessary later because of...
First Rule of Handling Conflict: Don’t Run!
One of the most difficult tasks of communication that we find necessary to work on at Titus 2 is handling conflict. The first principle is "Don't RUN!" . Others might argue that the first principle is "Don't get defensive." If one herself or others she is witnessing have been subjected to a pattern of criticism and dismissal of her voice/feelings in the past and feels attacked, either directly or passively aggressively, that's likely to be the first reaction. Helping her move from defensiveness to openness in communication and asserting herself appropriately is a challenge. The Bible says,...
The Joys of Aging
Yippee Skippee! Proverbs 31:25 "She laughs at what is to come!" Aging Is Associated With Better Mental Health by Fran Lowry August 25, 2016 Medscape News Like good wine and cheese, one's mental health improves with age, new research suggests. In a study of more than 1000 adults, people in their senior years were found to be happier and more content with their lives than those in their 20s and 30s, despite their physical ailments. The study was published in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. "Most people think that old age is all doom and gloom and that everything goes...
Not Born That Way
News from Johns Hopkins researchers you're not likely to see in the main stream media: In the '70's the American Psychological Assn. removed homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses. In the 90's it stated that homosexuality is genetically determined is a normal alternative sexual expression and should not be treated by conversion therapy for sexual reorientation. After the Genome Project in 2003 and other studies failed to validate that position, it was retracted an...d they revised their position, stating that it is a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental...
God’s Invitations
An insight and morning meditation shared with me by a friend..... "An individual observed that God "invites" us to pray. It's not a command. When one thinks of the word invite, it is often in a positive sense whereas the word command often carries a more negative, demanding, or an order sense.....a law. Invite is more loving. Command is duty.... It seems that many have that understanding. We miss a blessing when we don't accept Gods invitation. There is something that happ...ens when we pray. The bible talks about that all over the place. When we don't pray or allow others to participate in...
Prayer as Rebellion Against Status Quo
"Prayer.......is rebelling against the status quo of a world going awry. It is refusing to come to terms with an unjust, dark and evil world, as if it were all we were meant to have, as if there was no one or nothing that could change it; prayer is standing in the light of a God who comes in flesh to say otherwise. But in so doing, prayer remembers not only that the world as we find it can be changed and that it should be changed. The significant piece for the abolitionist to... remember is that while I am not going to be the one who brings an end to the world’s suffering, there is indeed...
God Must Enjoy Banana Bread With Pecans, Too!
From the ecstasy of victory to the agony of defeat.....I had posted about last night's roast. After dinner I mixed up two batches of banana bread and popped the loaf pans in the oven, having preheated the oven, and noted the time. I then set about doing some laundry and came back in a bit to finish cleaning the kitchen. I did not think about those loaf pans again......until 4pm this afternoon when I went to unload last night's dishwasher load and reload it. Suddenly I looked at the mixing bowl coming out of the dishwasher and thought...THE BANANA BREAD! I dashed to the oven...which was off...
Just Like Mama’s Roast!
8-21-16 Mama’s roast Shades of "Mama's roast"! It only took me 44 years to accomplish it, but Bill said last evening that I had cooked a roast "just like Mama used to cook!" (and gravy to go with it!) Is there a higher compliment a wife can receive? My Daddy had loved to eat roast at Bill's parent's house, too. For years after her death he would say, "Marilyn sure could cook a roast!" I must say, she did have a way with a roast. I remember what she said were her keys to success....don't cook it too fast and don't check it more than once. Leave it alone! Sounds easy, but I guess 44...